Renault Sport Formula One Team’s Jolyon Palmer was out of luck in today’s Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix, with a suspected slow puncture from debris at the start of the race forcing an earlier-than-planned first pit-stop. Running thereafter out of sequence, the British F1 rookie finished 15th.
Jolyon started the race from 18th on a new set of super-soft tyres. With a suspected slow puncture, he pitted on lap 11 for a set of fresh super-softs and made a second stop on lap 34 for a set of new softs.
Jolyon Palmer said: “That was a tough race, and we didn’t have any breaks come our way. I lost out with the shenanigans at the start and probably collected some debris as I had an early slow puncture too. We pitted pretty early which meant we had to run for longer subsequent stints, and that required us to nurse the tyres more than if we’d run the more balanced stint length planned.
“I lost a lot of time behind the Manors, but it wasn’t possible to pass them on this track. The positive from today is we’ve seen that there’s still scope to get points if everything goes our way; that’s what I’m gunning for at Sepang.”
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal, added: “Jolyon kept pushing despite a frustrating race for him with a slow puncture early on. We can see how everyone at Enstone and Viry, whether at the track or back at base, keeps on pushing and we will continue to do this no matter how difficult the challenge.”
Jolyon Palmer, #30, R.S.16-05: Started P18; Finished P15
That was a tough race and we didn’t have any breaks come our way, but the positive is we’ve seen that there’s still scope to get points if everything goes our way. Jolyon Palmer, Renault Sport Formula One Team Driver